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Xmas-y!

Whenever I think of Xmas, it reminds of my Christian neighbors with whom I grew up. They were twins, extremely naughty but a lot of fun to play with. My brother and I are still friends with them.

Their Grandmother would visit them often. They called her Nana, so we called her Nana.

I would come from school, get down the school auto, and rush to her house. I would tell her everything I did in school, solve puzzles and even play small games. She would pull out cookies and make tea. We would talk for an hour, until my mom would start calling me home.

She had separate vessels for the maid, because the maid did not eat non-vegetarian food, and she would never let her go without a cup of tea.

We kids would play until we were tired and then rush to her and sit around her, listening to stories after stories. She narrated spooky, funny and even mythological stories with great intricacies. I still shudder when I remember her ghostly experience.

The entire colony of kids adored her. I used to get jealous when she spoke to a friend of mine a little longer.

She would save up small cash and take us, I mean at least 7- 8 kids to a small gift shop that had opened. She would let us choose and pick whatever we wanted to buy. We never bought anything expensive, but we always bought something.

I think some of the moral values we spoke about at length, are the reason I am how I am today, She would give example from her life to drive home the point.

I do not remember her raising her voice, ever. We were a bunch of hyper kids, but she always smiled and made us smile.

They eventually moved to another place, but I would call her up and talk to her for hours.

Then one day, came the shock of my life! I could not control myself. It was the first death that was so close to me. I bawled for days. All the kids in the neighborhood cried.

It has easily been 15 years since that and I can still not write this without choking up. We were not related by blood. Religion was never a barrier, I only learnt to respect another faith. Love brought us together and I know she is one of my guardian angels.